Due to the rapid development of economies and industries all over the world, greenhouse/noxious gases and particulate matter have been increasingly released into the environment. Common greenhouse/noxious gases in the Earth's atmosphere contain carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and chlorofluorocarbons. The emissions of these noxious gases bring many issues, such as acid rain and/or the greenhouse effect which is one of several factors that affect the temperature of the Earth and cause global warming. As a result of the air pollution, significant efforts have been made to reduce the gas contamination in these gaseous emissions.
Over the years, a number of devices have been developed for filtrating gases, such as, the scrubbing exhaust gases. However, most devices have complicated structures thereby increasing cost of the devices. Further, the methods for scrubbing gases in the art in some instances require a complex process to achieve desired efficiency. Some examples of conventional apparatus for scrubbing gases are exemplified as follows.
One apparatus for scrubbing either acidic or alkaline impurities from gas streams is disclosed in Thomas (U.S. Pat. No. 6,893,484). Specifically, as seen in Figures of Thomas, gas is introduced into a container and passed through a plurality of tubes that are located in a lower section or portion of the container. The gas is then released from holes on the tubes into a sealed space containing liquid absorbent substance. Finally, the cleansed gas passes through a metal mesh and is released out of the container.
Another method for scrubbing gases is disclosed in Trivett (U.S. Pat. No. 7,056,367). Trivett discloses a method for scrubbing gases, i.e., the gases are pushed into a liquid tank and passed through scrubbing liquid. The gases then flow in a reverse direction through mixing vanes, thereby creating tiny bubbles to enhance the interaction of the gaseous pollutants with the scrubbing liquid.
Further, as disclosed in Lube (U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,656), a smoke scrubbing system involves spraying water to promote cleaning of the smoke. In this arrangement, the smoke passes through several chambers to fully interact with the water spray. The scrubbed smoke is then released out from the containers. In order to achieve the maximum efficiency, Lube provides several nozzles that have a fan spray type to induce the water and effectively contact the smoke. This arrangement inevitably increases the cost of producing such a smoke scrubbing system and it is likely to be difficult to repair/maintain the nozzles which are disposed inside each container.
Many more examples of developments in the art are directed to similar subject matter.